Reasonable Doubt 20: Kareem “Biggs” Burke Remembers Jay Z’s Debut

Jay Z’s Reasonable Doubt wasn’t instantly crowned a rap classic when it was released 20 years ago on June, 25 1996— it took some time. But now, two decades later, Hov’s debut album is widely considered one of hip-hop’s greatest works.

Meet Biggs, who, along with Jay and Damon Dash started Roc-A-Fella Records, the independent label where Hov released Reasonable Doubt and set the foundation for a two decade long career which includes just as many rap accolades as it does business benchmarks.